Trip report: Levuka, Leleuvia, Suva

I thought I'd post this to the forum because I had trouble finding info on this area of Fiji before we went. I highly recommend heading to Levuka, away from all the usual tourist crowd. It is such an interesting place to visit, and we felt we saw the real Fiji, particularly when we compared our experiences with friends at a wedding at the Shangri-La. If you want to go off the beaten track, away from the masses of tourists in the Yasawas and the coral coast, head to Levuka and Leleuvia, where everything is super cheap and people are super friendly. I went with my parents (in the 50's/60's) and I'm 27 and we all had a great time.

Trip plan

Nadi – Suva (1 night) – Levuka (2 nights) – Leleuvia (3 nights) – Suva (1 night) – Shangri-la (Yanuca) (2 nights) – Nadi

Levuka town

Levuka is the place to go to see the real Fiji. We really enjoyed walking down the main street. Everyone is so friendly, and if you feel friendly, greet everyone with ‘Bula’ as you walk around, and you are sure to be met with a big smile and ‘bula’ in return. There are lots of rustic colonial buildings to see, and heaps of schools and churches.

The little Levuka museum is worth a visit, even if it only takes you 20mins to read everything in it.

We spent a day walking around the village, and I think that was enough. There are quite a few tours you can do that show you more of the town and its history, and we all thought they would be great to do if we went back again. You could easily spend 4 days in Levuka, and by the end of that time you’ll be feeling like it’s 1900 again.

Ovalau watersports can organise your accommodation, transfers and tours, and are a great source of info on Levuka and the surrounding islands. It is run by a German couple that have lived in the area for 20 years – Andrea and Nobi.

The Royal Hotel

We stayed at the Royal, which is certainly the place to stay if you want to feel like you’re living in colonial times. It’s the oldest hotel in Fiji, and is still decorated like it’s the early 19th century. My single room had a single four-poster bed had a mosquito net, which did a good job in keeping out the mozzies. I opened the window to look straight out onto the ocean, and there was a table and a few chairs in the sitting room. It came with a toilet and shower, although the hot water wasn’t too plentiful.

Downstairs there’s a series of sitting rooms that looked like time stopped 100 years ago, a large pool table, a bar, computer room (with fast internet, $6 an hour), the breakfast room - $3 for toast and nice plunger coffee (with 6 flavours!), and ghost-like staff who are almost impossible to find. I felt like I was in an Agatha Christie novel at the Royal – all that was missing was a murder. I heard that the nicest place to stay is the Levuka Homestay, run by a couple from Perth in Australia. There also a new place opened up that has self contained apartments, and looked fabulously clean and new from the street. Apparently the Ovalau resort is very tired these days.

Levuka’s restaurants
Well the Royal hotel serves breakfast all day, it’s cheap, a little slow, but thick with atmosphere. You can get eggs, bacon, fruit and plunger coffee.

The Levuka pizza restaurant, opposite the wharf and tourist info centre, is the best place to eat. Main meals cost around $7 and are very tasty. The staff are excellent. You can get cheap wine by the glass, and ice-cold Fiji bitter.

Whale’s tale is tasty, in a good location on the main street, and mains cost around $10. You can even get bottles of decent wine!

Epi’s tour
Epi’s tour was fantastic. Epi is an incredible storyteller, and told us the history of Fijians and his village while sitting on the veranda of his house in Lovoni. We then had a delicious lunch made by people in the village that was made completely from local produce (and a small can of tuna). Epi took us for a wander around the village then, showing us plants that can be used as medicine, food, tea, and even to tell you where people have been. We visited the chief’s house, and he left a gift for him on behalf of us, which he organised. It was a real insight into how villagers live in Fiji.

Leleuvia
After two nights in Levuka, we went to Leleuvia island on an open topped boat. It takes about 45mins through very calm water around the reefs to the small island with white sandy beaches. It’s a family run island resort, and the staff are very friendly. Our bures are basic – bed with mosquito net, a small table, a single light bulb, and small windows that look out on the nearby ocean. There are new shared facilities that are nice and kept clean. The showers a cold, although there are solar shower bags that you can fill up and put in the sun. The food was tasty and well presented. We found that it was enough food, but big men might be a bit hungry. Beer is available at the bar. On our last night there was a kava party. The boys from the family (who entertained with singing and guitars with dinner each evening) did some extra singing and served up kava in the traditional way.

We did 2 days of diving from Leleuvia with Nobi from Ovalau watersports. He has a small dive shop set up on the island. He was a great instructor, and took us to some sites with very pretty coral formations, sharks and lots of baby fish. You wont see many large fish, sea urchins or sea cucumbers though – everything that’s edible is taken by locals and sold to Asian markets apparently. Nice, easy diving, highly recommended. $330/person for 2 days of diving, with 2 dives each day.

Leleuvia was very quiet – there were only us and another couple staying the whole time we were there. It is quite popular as a weekend spot with people from Suva though, and a recent art exhibition on the island saw 40 or 50 people staying there. A couple we chatted with on the island had just spent a few days at Caqalai, and they said that Leleuvia was in much better condition, much nicer and better food than Caqalai, although Caqalai was busier, probably due to the better write up it has in the Lonely Planet (apparently the lonely planet writer didn’t go to either of the islands though!).

It takes about 20mins to walk around the sandy beach on the island. There’s some good snorkelling off the beach, and you can see some nice soft coral there. We saw a sea snake coiled up in the sun too, although we hear that no one has ever been bitten on the island. You can also walk out on the mud flats at load tide for a few kilometres, and see lots of starfish and little moral eels in the pools. There’s a volleyball court and sea kayaks for use too whenever you feel energetic. And of course there are beautiful sunsets every night.

Overall Leleuvia was a fabulous place to get away from everything. It is a beautiful, peaceful island where you can easily pass the day reading on a sun lounge by the ocean, snorkelling and searching for sea shells on the shore. 3 nights was enough for us.

We left Leleuvia on another small boat to Wandalice landing. We travelled across a calm ocean and then up the Wandalice river, taking about 1.5hours in total. We got to the landing ( a concrete block by the bridge) and Joe from Leleuvia waited the 5mins until the local bus came to take us to Suva. The bus ride took about 1.5hours, and the bus was very comfortable, with some bollywood/R&B/rap music blaring to accompany us there.

Suva
We spent an afternoon and evening in Suva – went to museum, which was really interesting. Walking around seemed very safe. Lots of people on the streets, and they certainly aren’t as friendly as on the islands, but it’s ok to spend a few hours wandering around. We ate at the Old Mill cottage for lunch, and it was super tasty Fijian food. For dinner we went to JJ's on the Park, where we had some tasty, more up market food. Great service, not the greatest atmosphere. Seems they allow smoking in restaurants still in Fiji.

The details...

Transport

Taxis
Nadi to Suva F$180, about 4 hours, depending on the weather.
Suva to Nausori $30, about 30 mins.
Levuka airport (bureta) to Levuka town $10 each, 45mins. Mini van taxis wait at the airport to pick you up and take you to Levuka. The road is unsealed, so prepare yourself for a bumpy ride! You pass through a few small villages on the way.
Yanuca (Shangri-la) to Nadi - $70, 45mins.

Flights
Nausori (Suva) to Levuka, about $69, 15mins
Excellent flight, much less painful than 5 hours on a boat!

Boats
Levuka to Leleuvia - $30 each, 45mins
Leleuvia to Wandalice landing - $30 each, 75mins

Buses
Local bus Wandalice to Suva – about $3.50
Air-conditioned sunbus Suva to Yanuca (Shangri-la) – about $15 each, 3.5 hours

Accommodation

Peninsula hotel, Suva
$130/night/3 adults
Very tired hotel, good location though. Beds very soft. TV, coffee making facilities, hot shower, small pool. Lots of staff around, not doing a whole lot.

Holiday Inn, Suva
$249/night/3 adults
This was a bit of luxury after being on an island with no hot water! Attentive staff, all the modern comforts, coffee! NZ vs Australia rugby was on the night we were there, and a huge crowd came to the hotel to watch it on their projector screens. Fantastic location.

The Royal Hotel, Levuka
About $28/night single, $42/night double
This place is the real deal.

Leleuvia island resort
$50 per night per person in a private bure, shared facilities, including all meals.

Thank you for the useful information - these sound like the sort of places I will want to visit when I get to my much-awaited trip to Fiji.
Most people don't go to Suva, but I want to as I have friends at University there.

Thank you for the great trip report. I'm especially happy to read about Leleuvia. The island did really not deserve the critics in the last 2 LP editions.

Yes, good update (what LP ought to be about). I'm surprised you couldn't find much info on this area, though. Dave Stanley's Fiji guide is quite comprehensive. I'm also pleasantly surprised that prices haven't gone up much since I was there a couple of years ago -- I'm assuming all the prices are F$.

Glad that Leleuvia resort is still running. Their previous website is down, and there seems to be (yet again) another change of management. Or just change of owner? Do you know anything about that Bulabear?

OP, didn't you try the chinese restaurant in Levuka? It could have kicked the pizzeria out of spot #1. Or does food come down to personal preference?

The "top" management of Leleuvia is at the moment very busy with the outfitting of an upscale resort here in Fiji and they probably just forgot to keep the leleuvia.com webpage current. You can still get all info via www.levukafiji.com or www.owlfiji.com or even www.leleuviadiving.com
Lina is still managing the daily life on the island and tries to do her very best.
One small mistake by OP regarding prices: Leleuvia in double Bure is F$ 60 per person, in single F$ 70 and dorm is F$ 50 all including meals. One word for people who complain about transport (boat) rates. I'm very surprised that none of the islands has increased the transport rates which exist than more than 1 year, since that time the fuel price increased by more than 40%. A return run to Waidalice for 2 people only does not even cover the cost of fuel!

The pizerria in Levuka is called "The Koromakawa" - and Oldpro you might not know this- have moved to a newly built "bure" style house. They not only serve pizza, but lots of other delicious meals. It became a real competition for kim's restaurant. And the service is just top - Taru is probably the best and most charming waitress Levuka has ever seen.

Thanks for the extra info bulabear. Kim's didn't have much competition when I was there, the direct comparison clarifies the situation. It's not always easy keeping up to date on things from a distance (all the more reason why the OP's post is useful).

Indeed the boat prices surprise me. Accom and food prices have risen somewhat, but I expected the boat/fuel costs to have risen even more.

Thanks a lot for this great report very useful for me.I' ll be there in Ovalau(Levuka homestay) and Leleuvia in 10 days
Greetings from Lyon France